The William Roberts SocietyWilliam Roberts Society News[Last revised 17 April 2013] |
From past newsletters WR at auction The Chess Players: a chequered response 'Fallen humanity' offends council The Revolt in the Desert WR in the Tate archive The artist's models A 'new' portrait by WR WR works to go to the Tate Richard Cork on William Roberts Pollies and primates at Birmingham 'William Roberts: England at Play' at Chichester Publication of John Roberts's Poems for Sarah ![]() The sale of William Roberts's house and its contents William Roberts as portraitist Major donation for a publishing fund Charitable-trust status The Happy Family at Bournemouth James Malpas lecture at the National Portrait Gallery The William Roberts Society Fitzrovia walk William Roberts and the USA The William Roberts Society archives |
New exhibitions featuring William RobertsWe are not aware of any special exhibitions featuring works by William Roberts at present. Please click here for a list of works by Roberts in public collections, though these works may not necessarily be on display. ![]() The Tea Room (aka The Tea-shop), 19378 Oil on canvas, 82.5 cm x 75 cm © The Estate of John David Roberts This work is expected to be featured in the opening display of the Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport, when it reopens after redevelopment in September 2013. The image shows a scene in one of the J. Lyons & Co. tea-shops, which were inexpensive and enormously popular in the first half of the twentieth century; the waitresses, in their distinctive uniforms, were known as 'Nippies'. The chain was in decline when Roberts reproduced one of the studies for this picture in his Paintings 191758 in 1960, which may explain why there and when exhibited by Anthony d'Offay in 1969 the studies were nostalgically entitled The Good Old Days. Even in the late 1960s William Roberts still frequented J. Lyons' establishments: a pencil sketch, The Joke 1969, was drawn on the back of a bill from Lyons' The Restful Tray, Marble Arch 'one of William Roberts's customary outings of an evening' according to John Roberts's catalogue notes for Gillian Jason Gallery (2) 1986. |
Sarah: An Anecdotal MemoirWilliam Roberts was an artist of marked individuality who for more than sixty years was supported by his no less individual wife, Sarah. Witty, spirited, courageous, ready for adventure even in her ninetieth year, she dedicated her life to his while remaining true to herself. 'No time spent with Sarah was ever wasted,' an obituarist remarked. 'Her acute powers of observation, her human insight, her eye for detail, her sometimes acerbic (but never malicious or hurtful) tongue made her a delightful conversationalist. After a meeting with her, one felt more alive, more aware of the possibilities of life and art.' Pauline Paucker, the chairman of the William Roberts Society, knew Sarah well during the last twenty years of her life, and has written Sarah: An Anecdotal Memoir (64 pages, A5), in which she conveys the character of someone as worth celebrating as was her husband. Copies are available by sending a cheque made out to the William Roberts Society for £5 (inc. UK post and packing) to Marion Hutton, Lexden House, Tenby SA70 7BJ. The following extracts describe Pauline's first outing with Sarah, having been appointed her walking companion, and an incident during a later outing: ' My friend Norah Meninsky and I are going out walking on Hampstead Heath. Would you like to join us? I'll come round the corner to collect you and we'll take the no. 24 bus up. Norah will meet us there.' WR at auctionAt Christie's South Kensington on 14 December Skittle Alley c.1927 sold for £7,500. ![]() Skittle Alley c. 1927 © The Estate of John David Roberts At Christie's on 13 December Mahomet's Ride c.1967 sold for £73,250. ![]() Mahomet's Ride c. 1967 © The Estate of John David Roberts The previous evening at Christie's The Poor Family 19213 was unsold (estimate £200,000£300,000) ![]() The Poor Family 19213 © The Estate of John David Roberts At Sotheby's sale of modern and post-war British art on 14 November Checkmate, a watercolour study for The Chess Players 192930, sold for £94.850. ![]() The Chess Players colour study (aka Checkmate) 192930 © The Estate of John David Roberts At Bonhams on the same day the watercolour Evening in Oban c.1946 was unsold (estimate £20,000£30,000). ![]() Evening in Oban c.1946 © The Estate of John David Roberts At Sotheby's evening sale of modern and post-war British art on 10 May, WR's The Chess Players 192930 sold for £1,161,250 and Boxers 1914 for £229,250, more than twice the previous auction records for, respectively, an oil and a work on paper by the artist. ![]() Boxers, 1914 © The Estate of John David Roberts ![]() The Chess Players, 192930 © The Estate of John David Roberts When the sale continued the next morning, In the Straight c.1949 (pencil and watercolour) sold for £67,250 and Day Out on the River 1978 (oil on canvas) for £58,850. ![]() In the Straight, c.1949 © The Estate of John David Roberts ![]() Day Out on the River, 1978 © The Estate of John David Roberts On 23 May Christie's sold Masked Revels 1953 (oil on canvas) for £181,250: ![]() Masked Revels, 1953 On 24 May Christie's sold Parallel Bars 1970 (watercolour) for £21,875: ![]() Parallel Bars, 1970 © The Estate of John David Roberts ________________________________________________________________________ Collection of WR images, and requests for othersDavid Cleall is in the process of updating his listings of Roberts's works. He now has nearly one thousand recorded images, and his collection of reproductions has been boosted by Ruth Artmonsky giving him her own considerable collection of copies. David has now accumulated probably six or seven hundred reproductions of WR's work surely the most comprehensive collection anywhere. He has been most generous in sharing his work with others, and Andrew Heard, who organised the acclaimed Roberts retrospective in 2004, and Andrew Gibbon Williams have acknowledged their debt and gratitude to him. David would be very grateful if he could be notified of any reproductions of rare Roberts work via A picture that David would be particularly interested in acquiring a reproduction of is The Bowling Alley (19278). Exhibitions | Gallery | News | Contact | The artist's house List of works illustrated on the site Catalogue raisonné: chronological | alphabetical |